Egyptian citizens campaign against harassment of women

Jul. 31, 2014
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A group clad in bright green vests walks through central Cairo at sunset Monday during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr as part of the Harassing the Harasser campaign July 28. / Sarah Lynch for USA TODAY

by Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

by Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

CAIRO - A group of mostly teenagers and men took to the streets of Cairo's capital this week, ready to do battle - in bright green vests with spray paint in hand - against sexual harassers.

"We keep women safe," said high school student Mahmoud Adel, 17. "With perverts, we spray on the backs of their shirts: I am a harasser."

Dozens of civilians, including women, distributed leaflets to raise awareness about sexual harassment, criminalized for the first time in Egypt last month. Others in a separate campaign focused on catching and punishing harassers, some of whom landed in police detention.

The efforts mark an intensified focus by the Egyptian government and ordinary citizens to attack a problem that has made this country the worst in the Arab world in its treatment of women - even worse than Saudi Arabia, which is well known for limiting female rights.

Harassment of women - from dirty looks to groping to rape - is so prevalent that newly elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for the creation of a national committee to address the issue last month. He acted after interim President Adly Mansour issued a decree making sexual harassment a crime in June and after a video circulated online showing a woman violently attacked during a rally.

The efforts by groups to combat harassment stem in part from mob assaults on women during mass demonstrations after the uprising in 2011 that ousted then-President Hosni Mubarak.

Police and government officials did little to stop the problem. The new law aims for greater awareness and tougher penalties.

Offenders have been slapped with jail time and fines. Nine men were sentenced in mid-July to 20-25 years in prison for incidents last year and this year, including on the day al-Sisi took office in June, state news agency MENA reported.

The number of people convicted doesn't match the frequency of harassment, which activists say remains pervasive.

"It isn't enough," said Marchillino Gamal, 19, a volunteer with a group called I Saw Harassment that monitored, documented and intervened in cases of assault this week. "The law is a good step, but it needs to be implemented."

Those found guilty of sexual harassment crimes, which include sexual suggestions or obscene gestures, could receive no less than six months in jail or a fine of about $420 - or both. Punishment is higher for repeat offenders, those in a position of authority and those who use a weapon. Human Rights Watch said the legislation needs improvement, and the penal code still has a narrow definition of rape.

Egypt is the worst country in the Arab world in which to be a woman, according to a 2013 Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of gender experts. Sexual harassment, high rates of genital cutting and a rise in crime were among the reasons the region's most populous state ranked last on a list of 22 countries, the survey found.

"I feel like people in the street lose all feelings of humanity," Gamal said. "They see people harass a girl, and no one helps her."

A report published last year by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women found that 82.6% of female respondents to a survey in Egypt didn't feel safe or secure in the street, and 99.3% said they experienced some form of harassment.

Activists said the issue worsens when throngs of men, boys, women and girls pack the streets, such as during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr that kicked off Monday.

"It's an environment that encourages harassment," said Bassem Wahba, 37, an IT manager and volunteer with I Saw Harassment.

Monday, Wahba worked from a control room downtown to help coordinate movement of patrols on the ground that watched for - and intervened in - cases of assault and distributed leaflets informing people about their rights and the law.

The group said a new state-led effort called the Police Force for Combating Violence Against Women was also patrolling the streets this week.

Some didn't welcome the anti-harassment initiatives. Young Egyptian Sherif Ayman, who saw a boy get captured by campaigners who spray-painted "I am a harasser" on his shirt near Tahrir Square, suggested the practice is unjust since some feign harassment.

"(Women) want to pretend they are in a rude society and that they are polite," Ayman said. "They just want to make a big problem."

Others said civilian-led efforts weren't needed since security has improved in Egypt.

"Harassment used to be a problem, but with the new president, it's not," Mona Karim, 20, said.

Nearby, a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said two teenagers were taken to a police station in the area early Monday for annoying young women.

Mohammed El Habibi with the I Saw Harassment campaign said Egyptians' attitudes toward harassment are changing.

"The word 'harassment' is now in the dictionary of the Egyptians," he said. "There are big changes happening now when it comes to harassment."